E-commerce in India is expanding. Almost every product can be brought online. Ebay is one of India’s largest online marketplace (ebay.in) and has over thousands of sellers registered who sell both new and old products. But that is hardly the point. The point of concern arises because Ebay India is also probably the largest online grey marketplace. At the expense of sounding exaggerated, it can be well asserted that it is the online counterpart of Palika Bazaar or Gaffar Market in New Delhi. The only big difference being that when we buy stuff from Palika Bazar, we know that it is from a grey market and hence the consequences. But for an average consumer, the legitimacy of Ebay is hardly questionable and the grey market consequences are usually a bolt from the blue. And this is what makes Ebay deals a worst nightmare for consumers than a full blown grey market deal.
Can one buy anything online which is not available for sale in the country yet? Are the laws of India so weak that such practices cannot be stopped? Jai Anand unearths some hard facts and shocking truths.
Let’s go across and look at some of the listings which make the matter serious enough to notice
Samsung focus i917, Not launched in india
Look at the short description of the product
Ebay fraud, Samsung Short Description
Now, look at the detailed description of the product
Ebay fraud, Samsung Long Description
This seller ‘claims’ to be located in West Bengal and is selling imported Samsung focus i917 which has not yet been launched in India. The phone is imported, the short description of the phone mentions the phone to be ‘New: A brand-new, unused and undamaged item’ as highlighted in the image while the detailed description mentions that ‘Expect the phone to be in 9.9/10 condition’ as highlighted above. Moreover, the product has no return policy (which as reported elsewhere on Consumer Tadka is illegal, see Goods Once Sold Will Not Be Taken Back. Don’t Get Stuck, It’s Illegal) and carries a seller warranty. Note that warranty period has not been mentioned. This can have serious implications. A product carries a warranty but has no period of such warranty leaving consumers in a messy fix and absolutely no accountability on behalf of the seller. Why does Ebay allow listing of the products which has an (illegal) no return policy and no warranty?
What more? These products are in all probability smuggled at cheaper prices from abroad and then sold at prices lesser than the market price with concepts like ‘seller warranty’. For the uninitiated, ‘seller warranty’ means the seller assumes the responsibility of items which are not covered under manufacturer’s warranty either because they are smuggled from abroad or those items not available for sale in the region concerned. A manufacturer’s warranty is a valid warranty and is legally enforceable. A seller’s warranty can hardly match this because while manufacturers have a reputation to upkeep and a proper system in place, it may or may not be so with random sellers. The possibility and probability of enforcing a warranty which relies on random sellers, is in itself is a dicey idea. In effect, it is like a promise that every Palika Bazaar shopkeeper has mastered, “Any problem, bring it to us, it is our guarantee”. Think back on the number of times you had actually believed in the enforceability of this promise and you would know what I am talking about.
Delving in details of most of these products is like a dive in a can of worms. This particular product, for instance, carries operator’s logo, unlocked by a third party (not officially unlocked) and could be used as it is. Indian laws do not allow import of used phones in the country which clearly implies that this may also be a smuggled product. It says it is not in new condition because ‘it travels a long way in boxes’. Really?! In that case, every Nokia/Samsung/Blackberry phones should be damaged while they are officially imported to India!
USED/STOLEN PRODUCTS
Used phones are widely sold on Ebay and that too as a commercial activity. Is it legal? Well, that’s another dive in the worms. If the sellers do not give invoice to people through whom they purchased the product originally, it certainly isn’t a legal activity. Imagine a situation where a user bought a phone through Ebay India from one seller. It turns out to be a stolen phone and the user is caught. Now though the user is not at fault, to prove the same in the court of law is a tedious, embarrassing and harassing process. Well, the situation is definitely exaggerated but certainly not impossible. There have been various instances where users have reported that some of the sellers listed on Ebay are selling stolen goods. Have those matters been duly investigated? I am not very sure but there has definitely been no evident, stringent actions taken to curb this practice.
Users who bought used phones from Ebay have reported various problems like broken screen, low battery, accessories not working and other damages to the phone. Though sellers take responsibility for their listing and information, yet in most cases return shipping cost is to be borne by the buyer – so, in effect, users pay for seller’s fault too. In numerous cases, sellers do not take responsibility and say that ‘This is what was mentioned in the listing’ and buyers end up losing their hard-earned money.
Here is another illustration. Following is the listing of the phone, seller ‘claims’ to be located in Mumbai and have huge no. of listings of used mobiles.
Used Phone Listing
The seller only mentions ‘Nokia E6 Mobile in Excellent Condition with All Accessories’ and has not attached any original photo of the mobile, only a generic photo. Phrase ‘excellent condition’ is subjective; what may be excellent condition for the seller may not be the same for the customer. Hence, there is a need to show the original photos of the product while listings such products. Why doesn’t Ebay as a consumer friendly, legal online marketplace make policies to encourage and ensure that anyone selling a used product must attach an original picture of the product to give a fair degree of idea of at least the physical condition of the listed product? (Physical condition may be crucial for certain products like a mobile and a visual proof also discourages undesirable, lofty claims about the product which may eventually turn out to be false.)
FAKE/REPLICA PRODUCTS
The Ebay can of worms is seemingly endless. To multiply the concerns highlighted above, one can even get imitation of numerous products from Ebay ranging from mobiles to watches, any brand, Tag Heuer, Rolex, Rado, Vertu, Apple and others. The situation becomes even more problematic when there is a clear, deliberate intention of passing down a fake replica as the real deal.
Let’s look at some listings below
Ebay Fraud Replica 1
Ebay Fraud Replica 2
Ebay Fraud Replica 3
These three listings of Tag Heuer and Rado watch are priced between Rs.3000-6000 while the original watches costs over Rs.2 lacs. Nowhere do these listings mention that they are fake or replicas. Even if they do mention, it is illegal to sell replica of any product and the sellers/manufacturers of such replicas are liable to the companies concerned. Many of the consumers who are not aware that they are actually replicas (since it is not mentioned), end up buying the product and feel cheated when they realize that product received is a cheap replica. Moreover, for obvious reasons, these products do not have any return policy or warranty. One may argue that the consumers should be careful enough to notice something amiss if the prices of otherwise expensive products are slashed to this extent. But, the point is, can Ebay shrug its responsibility towards the consumers on the basis of their common sense? Why doesn’t Ebay take any steps to remove the listings of replica products? And why doesn’t it duly warn its consumers against this practice?
RETURN POLICY AND WARRANTY
Return policy and warranty of the product are two extremely important points that buyers must take into account and as a general rule should ensure that they check these policies before buying anything.
Following is the return policy and warranty of the Nokia E-6 listing (attached above)
Nokia E-6 Return policy
Note that in return policy it says ‘Item must be returned within 7 days and refund will be given as exchange’. Besides the fact that the policy in itself violates the law which grants consumer the right to get their grievances addressed as they deem fit, the policy with all legal points aside is a huge inconvenience to any average consumer. Any consumer who is unhappy with the product or does not find the product in so called ‘excellent condition’ cannot get refund of his purchase (not by simple means at least) and he only has an option of ‘exchange’. This is highly unethical because despite seller not delivering the right product, the consumer still has no option. There are no serious repercussions for the seller and he can send out a similar product as ‘exchange’. With the exception of the bunch of consumers who are willing to take the longer route to justice through consumer forums, an average Ebay consumer is nothing but stuck with these draconian policies. How can Ebay allow such a policy to be put in place which is not only unethical but is also in violation of the law of the land?
The consumer woes don’t end here. Shipping cost for the return too has to be paid by the buyer/consumer and as mentioned earlier, it is like consumer paying for the seller’s fault. Even in circumstances where the seller has not sent the right product, return shipping cost still has to be borne by the buyer. Why doesn’t Ebay stop such practice? In case of a clear cut fault by the seller (not in the product itself), why should a buyer pay for shipping?
The product mentioned above carries a delivery warranty of 6 months. Now in case there is some serious fault in the phone, shipping cost has to be borne by the buyer to send it to the seller, which typically costs Rs.200-250 and the seller may or may not honor the warranty and may charge the customer for the service of the phone as well. The worst scenario is when the seller through which the user has bought the phone is no longer registered on Ebay. It is crucial to note that the warranty clause at Ebay is only in the listing; the customer does not get any sort of warranty card to claim such warranty. Nowhere does Ebay clarify the course of action in such circumstances and does not specify who is to be held liable in such a scenario.
MASSIVE TAX EVASION
If one looks at the above paragraphs, I have put ‘claims’ in quotes. That’s because there is no verification at all if one wants to become a seller on Ebay. It’s as easy as registering via a mobile number in India for Indian residents or by providing credit card details for others. Ebay doesn’t care if one runs a company or not, what are the sources of the products being sold and moreover they don’t even ask for any valid/accountable proof of identity whatsoever.
One is not even asked for a CST number (required for every shop to sell goods outside state for the purpose of sales tax) before selling any of the items. At the first brush, this seems nothing but a conspiracy for massive tax evasion since anyone is allowed to sell anything at any rate with no accountability of sales tax or import duties. Ebay definitely has its excuses as there are ‘individuals’ who wish to sell second hand goods used by them so asking them a TIN/CST number would be useless. But a blanket exclusion is highly questionable and certainly not desirable.
Ebay requires the user to submit a proof of identity and address only if his Paisapay payment goes beyond Rs.50,000. So in effect one can sell anything without any proof of identity and address as far as payment does not cross Rs.50,000. And that is not all. Indian laws requires mandatory registration of VAT if a person sales cross Rs.5,00,000 annually and there are way many sellers at Ebay who cross this mark. But Ebay does not ask any of these sellers to provide any documents. A seller can transact by just using a savings account which can be changed anytime. There are sellers who use multiple savings accounts to transfer the money to avoid tax issues. How is that possible that Ebay India transfer payment of high value to the sellers for these unofficial products through online bank transfer (NEFT), where is the tax? Ebay needs to and must verify the seller’s VAT and CST numbers if his sales cross Rs.5, 00,000 annually.
Not all online market sites are resorting to covert means. There are websites like www.buynsellindia.com which ask for identity verification. But obviously who would like to go through such formalities if a big brand name like Ebay is supporting covert practices. Why would the sellers migrate? For all those buyers who get the Apple products in India, it’s heaven because believe it or not, there are sellers at Ebay who thrive on a reputation that they sell original smuggled goods and not fake smuggled goods. Notwithstanding that fake or not, the goods after all are smuggled!
REDRESSAL ISSUES
The trouble with Ebay doesn’t end here. There are more limitations at the customer care/redressal end. The sellers who have account related problems are not even given a contact number as to know why their account has been suspended. All they can do is write an email to the web help team who work from outside India but cannot contact the anyone at Ebay directly. They have to wait for their reply via email only. So in case a seller’s account has been suspended, it can take months before the issue gets across to the concerned persons. Consumer forums are full of problems with Ebay India which blocks the money of sellers and then asks them to reply through email. As expected, no interest is paid on the amount for the period it is blocked. There are hundreds of sellers whose payment has been blocked by Ebay for years and in some cases it ranges in lacs. Ebay India, it seems believes in breaking the law rather than following the it and ‘Jugaad’, evidently, is their preferred mode of operation.
Shortcuts have inevitable downsides and the shortcut called Ebay has one too many. While we can hope that the regulators take note of such irregularities and ensure that they are curbed, it is ultimately the duty of the consumers/users of websites like Ebay to be aware and cautious of all the possible downsides including the loss of revenue to the country and avoid patronizing such activities.
Update : The Consumer Tadka Effect-Following the publication of this piece by Consumer Tadka, Ebay has removed the listing of the three replica watches referred to in the article. We commend Jai for his efforts!
Jai Anand is a law student and is currently pursuing his III year at Jindal Global Law School. Author can be followed at twitter.com/jaianand01
All views are personal and Consumer Tadka does not take any responsibility of the views expressed here.
Great article and very well researched. Thanks.
Thanks Kshitij
I disagree to some extent. Products are cheaper through e-commerce because it saves lot of cost on marketing, advertisement and distributions.
I buy products through various portals and all taxes are levied.
Hi Parshav,
We are not against e-commerce in itself and we ourselves avail the benefits of online shopping. This article only intends to highlight the drawbacks with Ebay in particular and is not against online shopping portals in general.
Runjhun from Akosha
Dear Consumer Tadka
eBay India (www.ebay.in) is India’s leading eCommerce marketplace and is committed to providing Indian buyers with access to a safe, easy, convenient online shopping experience. We are an eCommerce Marketplace and thousands of Indian entrepreneurs & brands list items for sale on eBay India as well as deliver the product to the end consumer. eBay does not list products itself or control the inventory or shipping.
Merchants on eBay India choose what products they would like to sell as well as the offer price inclusive of shipping charges. Consumers exercise choice amongst the huge variety of great deals and buy products suited to their budget & needs.
As a responsible Corporate Citizen, eBay India abides by and adheres to the laws and regulations of the local Government. All sellers who list on eBay India go through a seller verification process before they list products for sale. Sellers sign an eBay user agreement which clearly calls out their obligation to comply with all Indian laws inclusive of taxes & duties.
eBay India offers safe & secure online payments via PaisaPay on all listings on eBay India. Buyers pay via credit card, debit card, net banking, EMI & the payment is remitted to the seller only once the buyer receives the product. In the rare chance that the customer is unhappy with the product, they can avail of the eBay Guarantee promise that offers them a replacement or a refund for their product. The applicable shipping charges are also covered under the eBay Guarantee.
eBay India Customer Service can be reached via telephone, email, chat or on our social media platforms.
eBay India has 3 million customers from 3,311 Indian cities. Over 30,000 sellers list 7 million products daily across technology, lifestyle, collectibles & media categories. eBay India is committed to evangalising eCommerce to consumers, entrepreneurs, brands & government.
Regards
Deepa Thomas
Head – Corporate Communications, eBay India
Dear Ebay Team,
Thank you for your response. At the very outset, we want to clarify that Consumer Tadka neither subscribes to nor endorses the views expressed in any of the guest posts. We are a platform committed to voice the concerns of the consumers across the country. We are also an unbiased forum that intends to promote productive dialogue between brands and their consumers and by giving due space to both sides of any story, we enable our readers to make a reasoned assessment of the same. We are happy that Ebay has clarified its stand in this regard and we are sure that our readers shall take a balanced, reasoned approach with respect to the issues raised in the article.
Regards,
Runjhun from Akosha
Dear Deepa Thomas,
I welcome your comments, but as a Company, you need to have filters to remove listings violating copyrights like fake rolex watches. You need to follow due-diligence which you are not.
Though Ebay is an intermediary but it loses it powers under intermediaries if such listings are brought to your notice and you still don’t remove them. I’ll suggest you to please look at Intermediaries Guidelines,2011 and as by your comment it is quite clear that we have brought these listings to your notice and if you still don’t remove them, you can incur liability under the new guidelines.
Thanks!!
Great work ! Jai Anand . Superb article !
Thanks Shubham!
Great article jai anand
Don’t Blame eBay for its sellers mistake. eBay is a very nice platform and the best of all e-commerce website in India and I’m a regular buyer of eBay i faced no problem even on imported mobiles, imported laptops i have shopped more than 5 Lakhs on eBay till date. The sellers are very humble, genuine and I’ve good business relations with them they keep on updating about new products arrived and the only this you must note while purchase is you be clear what you want and ask same to sellers if you don’t like don’t buy and these all mobiles and laptops are imported from Malaysia if stolen or fraud smuggled models will be limited how a seller can get more then 100 pieces ?? only thing is some people are jealous so write such posts
Hi Pavan,
Thank you for your response. As we have already mentioned, not all consumer face grievances with all the brands all the time but whenever they do, Consumer Tadka believes in giving them a platform to air their experience and opinion. Ultimately, it is our aim to alert our consumers against the slightest of a possibility of a grievance.
Runjhun from Akosha
Dear Pavan,
I hope that you dont face any problem in future too. Unfortunately, I have no expertise in smuggling goods so I cannot answer your question. By the way, smuggling happens only in bulk.
Best
Great work Jai !
I totally agree with your Views and opinions.
Ebay Team Should instead of clearly Defending itself should accept the fact the there loophole and it is a very grey area. They could atleast try and put it efforts to make sellers comply with the TAx and TIN AND VAT Laws.
I state the Above fact as i have been both a seller as well as a buyer on ebay. And Ebay should put in efforts for sellers comply with the TAx and TIN AND VAT Laws.
Thanks Divya,
I hope they do comply with laws
totally agreed, e-bay should share the responsiblity and should not run. Thanks for awareness.
Nice to know this
Great research !!! This definitely help us to understand how these e commerce sites like ebay are offering products at such low prices.
Thank you Sumit!
Runjhun
Well researched article. As a consumer, i have never faced any problem with eBay. Got refund as and when required. I do agree with most of the points though. It is very easy to get bad/fake products frm eBay, especially when the user is not aware. But I found eBay paisa pay to be very good in such cases. I may be one of the lucky ones
I didnt knew importing used phone is illegal in India. Can you point me to any legal documents regarding this? I have imported many used phones via eBay or shopandship (by paying proper custom duties).
Hi Reshadat,
Thank you for the comment. We believe Jai has already covered the legal aspects of the issue thoroughly in the article and in the subsequent comments. As far as the illegality is concerned, the article is only referring to the used phones or unlocked phones that are not allowed and are being illegally imported.
Runjhun
First of all Akosha is fantastic initiative and i am an personal beneficiary from akosha. Fantastic article, Rightly pointed out all the drawbacks on ebay. The intention was clear that not to avoid ebay, but make ebay a more legal place to buy with confidence.
But i want to point out one important point with ebay. I am an ebay customer for the past 5 years, They have provided a wonderful service. If any dispute arise you can very well trust their customer support team. You can buy with confidence from only one portal, that is ebay. i can surely mention it here, because i purchased items from most of the important ecommerce portals in India. Ebay’s Paisapay department gives that confidence as an intermediate person between buyer and the seller. If any dispute arrives they sort it out in a very nice manner. Also their feedback ranking system is a great support for buyer.
regd. tax invoices, I have received more than 70 – 80% of the items with Original Tax invoices. Some small items within 1000 – 3000 mostly dont come with Tax invoices. If Ebay look into that it will be a good one. Because buyer never knows whether the invoice going to come is with or without Tax?. Otherwise simply they can create one more field in description called Invoice Type and make it compulsory (Either Tax invoice or not should be mentioned there) so buyer can buy with confidence.
regd. fake items buyer has to be careful, as a large portal it is tough for ebay to check each and every product. Buyer should avoid those items, Normally if ebay implements Invoice type column, buyer should only buy Taxable goods, they fake goods will automatically vanish if no one buys. It is up to the Buyer once again.
regd. used products once again buyer has to be careful, or ebay should come with some very good idea to avoid stolen products on their portal.
Hi Bala,
Thank you so much for that lovely comment and a positive feedback.
You got it right. Intention is not to put down anyone but to just make the overall experience more consumer friendly and of course legally sound. We are glad that you had a great experience with Ebay, just like many of their other consumers. We have repeatedly stated this, not all consumers face problems from all the brands all the time but when they do, Tadka is committed to bring forth the issue, the reasons behind it and if possible, suggest remedies for the same. The idea is to let consumers have a say and let brands know where they are going wrong, however minor the issue may be.
Runjhun
looks little biased. ebay is a 'way' rather than a shop which is rather safe. From my experience they have great guarantee for the money you pay to a seller. ebay is responsible for the money, that what a customer need.
For instance I had brought something through naaptol. the product was defective, I returned it. they promised to send the product within 5 to 7 days, the promised continued but not the shipping of the product. I raised a complain through akosaha. The naaptol responded immediately agreeing to refund my money. Now more than 30 days, only the promise naaptol haven't refunded the money. in this case or any such cases who has control over naaptol or for that matter any other e-commerce portal.
so my point is not to advertise ebay but to say that any e-commerce portal should have an independent agency who has the direct control over the money of the buyer.
Vincent K C.
I agree with you Mr.Vincent but the focus of the article is not to avoid Ebay in particular, but to avoid the listings of the products mentioned above which would defeat the very purpose of a safe marketplace.
Hi Vincent,
The article just intend to highlight the drawbacks in the system. Individual consumer experiences differ and our only attempt is to make sure any possible issue with respect to consumers is highlighted. The author is entitled to his own views and biases but we as a platform, always maintain our neutrality and have featured Ebay’s response to the article, allowing our discernible readers to make reasoned choices.
Runjhun
All glitters are not gold…..
Very true Mr. Gopinath and therefore we always implore our reader-consumers to be extremely cautious and ask the right questions.
Runjhun
Yes, I always feel that ebay is online grey market, but a smart buyer can get good out of this.
Of course Sachin, smart consumers always have the last laugh and that is why, Consumer Tadka always believes in the power of consumer awareness!
very informative and supportive. for any kind of other information you can visit on http://goo.gl/n18dc or call on 60011600.
I would like to add something.
eBay should make his Claims team very strong(in sence very fair enough for both buyer and also seller) so that buyers who r facing problems after buying something which doesn't carry any type of warranty or guarantee ,, will get solved their issue hasslefree.
and it is not necessary that buyers r always victims.
sometimes seller found out to be genuine.
and I think Ebay is great shoping portal coz of duplex feedback system.
1. If you check a sellers feedback rating and its over 100 with 90+% you can buy and if you need to send back, most probably its a genuine issue, a seller, for returns, will still be charged some fees, so sellers don't enjoy having people return stuff, the point am trying to convey is that even though a buyer needs to pay for returns this fact will not be exploited by sellers since they bear a price too, they will try the best to make sure you don't have to return an item…
2. Ebay has a robust refund system in place and these days its very diff for a seller to cheat a buyer, any request raised will mostly end with a refund (unless there are replicas or fineprint stuff missed by the buyer).
The point am trying to convey is eBay is safer than most sites to buy, I have had horrendous experiences with naaptol (am a youtuber just search naaptol cursed4eva on youtube) but a similar issue with eBay where my product hasn't been shipped for weeks would not happen since they refund easily… now onto the cons…
1. eBay charges anywhere from 6-12% commission, 5% for paisapay and 1-7% for ebay and this hikes the prices, and this results in sellers trying to save on shipping and stuff.
2. eBay doesn't enforce sales tax/vat and if they did it for sellers over a limit it would be good, as a seller how can I match the price of sellers who don't charge VAT/CST if I charge it? That's a question for every new seller.
3. YES I agree 100% with the account suspended issue… I went thro it as a seller a few years back, they held my 40k for 4 months, 100 calls, hours of being on hold and they suspended my account and released the payment
The bottom line…
Is eBay a safe place to buy? Yes as long as you don't buy from people with low feedback or people with private listings in feedback or people with a lot of feedback for low value stuff who are suddenly listing high value stuff.
Is eBay a place to get great prices? Not always, most of the times you can get better prices elsewhere
As a start up seller do you think eBay is right for you? Yes and no, as long as you can adhere to the rules and be really nice to customers it could be good but remember the 6-12% commission they charge…
Am a seller on eBay and a Youtuber with a website in case you guys were wondering
I have been cheated by ebay … they suck badly .. awful and almost criminal …http://www.mouthshut.com/blog/hjjblutmmm/Cheated-by-eBay-No-response-from-Customer-Service
http://www.mouthshut.com/blog/hjjblutmmm/Cheated-by-eBay-No-response-from-Customer-Service
what about consumer court case, bro!
Vijayant Arora i went to consumer court, but they asked me to go to mumbai and lodge a case against ebay since ebay is based in mumbai and they dont have a office here in delhi
(
When the seller clearly Mentioned…it is a seller warranty product (& the imported one)…Actually the sellers in the ebay…Follow this method—>..they get products from Other Countries(through Fedex….etc)…and they pay the CUSTOM Charges….and paying the Custom Charges….then the product is meant it is LEGAL…and then Ebay.in Officially offers RETURN policy for 14 days…then where is the problem…JUST THINK…Why Would SUCH A Great Online Store(Ebay.in) will allow it's Sellers to Sell Duplicate Products…
I have been shopping in eBay for ages now…. Except for couple of occasions where I received defective product, I have been a happy customer. Whenever I received a defective product, the seller has either exchanged the product with a good one or has refunded full amount…. All in all, I am a happy eBay customer.